This invention relates to an airborne target for use in simulating the exhaust plume of jet powered aircraft and more particularly to an improved airborne target having an infrared plume generator which may be employed during training and weapons evaluation exercises involving the use of infrared guided weapons designed to home on the infrared rich content of the exhaust plume of a jet powered aircraft.
Heretofore in the art to which my invention relates, many infrared emitting airborne targets have been employed by military agencies in the support of infrared guided weaponry exercises. Such targets were designed to simulate the black or gray body infrared energy emitted by the engine of a jet aircraft. The infrared guided weapons used to intercept the target have guidance systems which utilize infrared detectors that sense the short wavelength radiation produced by the metal parts in the exhaust region that comprise and are adjacent the jet engine. These type guidance systems require that the launch aspect angle of the infrared missile be restricted to the tail sector of the airborne target in order to place the hot metal radiators of the engine in the missile's field-of-view. Improvements in infrared detectors increased their capability to sense longer wavelength infrared energy; therefore, infrared guided weapons were designed to home on the longer wavelength energy found in the infrared rich content of the exhaust plume of a jet powered aircraft. Since this exhaust plume would extend many feet beyond the engine exhaust opening, it could be seen by the newer infrared guided weapons from virtually any given angle. This would permit the latest infrared weapons to be launched from any aspect angle which is in direct contrast to earlier infrared weapons which were designed to be launched from limited aspect angles.